2025 Ford Escape – End of an Almost Quarter Century Era

In a recent post on Car Edge it was revealed that the Ford Escape is being discontinued after 2025 and sadly the news is true. Ford is choosing to do what a lot of other car companies are doing – prioritizing EV’s – and in order to do so, they need to make room in the available car offerings – in layman’s terms, get rid of the most popular cars. But not to worry, if you still want to purchase one from the dealership they are available, but once gone, that’s it. So hurry in today to make the purchase while you can.

Overview

The Ford Escape was first released to the market in 2001 as a compact crossover SUV that has seen many facelifts over the years. Interestingly enough, well not so much if you know about cars already, the first 2 generations of Ford Escapes used the Ford CD2 platform (jointly developed by Mazda) which is why the Mazda Tribute and Mercury Mariner look so much like this car. Both cars were marketed in North America but the Mariner was never marketed in Canada. In Europe, the Escape was initially released to the public being called the Ford Maverick from 2001 to 2008 replacing a Nissan-produced SUV – the Nissan Patrol. 

The 2025 Ford Escape is mechanically related to the Ford Bronco but is free to handle the more mundane driving tasks that most people put it through in their everyday lives. It does check the boxes off with more room, two available engine offerings, and an intuitive infotainment system (these will be covered in later sections) which is pretty much the basics that people look for when buying a new car. But it’s in the details where some of the bonus points fall short. When sitting behind the wheel, there really isn’t anything that grabs your attention, which is fine for many drivers who just need a car to get them from point A to point B safely. It also has an overly firm suspension that is a misstep for a car aiming to get families around in peace. 

On Car and Driver’s Ranking of where this vehicle would fit in with the other compact SUV’s like it, the Ford Escape finds itself in position #13 – after the Honda CR-V (position #1), the Mazda CX-5 (position #3), the Ford Bronco (position #4) and Volkswagen Tiguan (position #5) just to name a few. 

Ford decided not to make any changes to the 2025 edition. 

Pricing and Which One to Buy

The Ford Escape is offered in 5 different versions, Active (base model) – $30,645, ST-Line – $31,490, ST-Line Select – $35,685, Platinum – $36,510, and ST-Line Elite (top of the line model) – $39,005. It is recommended to go with the ST-Line model because it makes the spend so much more worth it. For this version, performance was the key aspect that Ford chose to focus on all while marketing this for a good price. This model comes with a 250 horsepower turbocharged 2.0 litre 4 cylinder engine under the hood but this would mean that you would have to upgrade to the Select package which also adds all wheel drive to the mix. 

Other unique features include: 18 or 19 inch wheels, body coloured lowered cladding, a mesh grille, and a rear spoiler. But if an increased digital footprint is your forte the Premium Technology package is for you. It substitutes a 13.2 inch infotainment display for a 12.3 inch digital gauge display for the standard 8.0 inch units.    

Engine, Transmission, and Performance

As mentioned previously, the [non-hybrid] Ford Escape features two different powertrains – a 181 horsepower turbocharged 1.5 litre (EcoBoost) three cylinder engine that can either be front or all wheel drive or a 2.0 litre (EcoBoost) four cylinder engine that makes 250 horsepower. Either option however comes with an 8 speed automatic transmission. 

0-60 MPH Times

For the 0-60 MPH time, two powertrains were put to the test – an all wheel drive with the base three cylinder and a turbo four version, however, the timings from both versions couldn’t be anything but different. The first model made it in 7.7 seconds whereas the second made it in 5.8 seconds. 

Fuel Economy Ratings and Real World MPG

According to the EPA, the turbocharged 1.5 litre three-cylinder engine with front wheel drive capability offers the highest fuel economy for the nonhybrid models. It is rated at 27 MPG city, 33 MPG highway, and 30 MPG combined. If one opts for the all wheel drive option these numbers are decreased to 26 MPG city, 31 MPG highway, and 28 MPG combined. The larger turbocharged 2.0 litre four cylinder engine with all wheel drive on the other hand is rated at 23 MPG city, 31 MPG highway, and 26 MPG combined.   

Interior, Comfort, and Cargo

The 2025 Ford Escape is styled very nicely and is very spacious for all occupants no matter where in the vehicle they may be sitting. But in terms of interior design, take the low-rent plastic panels for example (found in the lower trims), it makes the cabin feel cheaper. For the higher end trims like the ST-Line and Platinum models, the look is more of a higher end or higher quality but still comes nowhere close to the other competitors in this segment like the Mazda CX-5, Mazda CX-50, Kia Sportage, or the Honda CR-V. 

This car does come standard with textured cloth upholstery while the Platinum versions see a faux-leather seating surface. But the good news is behind the rear seat there is a lot of cargo space room – with the capability to fit up to 8 carry-on suitcases, making this car equal to its competitor the Chevrolet Equinox. With the rear seats folded down, 21 suitcases were able to fit, however, the Equinox was able to carry two more under the same conditions.   

Infotainment and Connectivity

Active (base model) and ST-Line models are equipped with an 8.0 inch infotainment system that can be upgraded to a larger 13.2 inch touchscreen display found in the Platinum models as standard. Both screens are powered through Ford’s latest Sync 4 infotainment interface which offers Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay capability. One really cool thing about the infotainment system is it accepts over-the-air updates, and will automatically update itself so the owner will never have to worry about outdated technology. Other optional features for this car include: a 10.0 inch speaker B&O Play audio system, a pop-up head-up display, and the previously mentioned 12.3 inch touchscreen display.  

Safety and Driver Assistance Features

Ford offers a wide range of safety and driver assistance features that they call Co-Pilot 360 which comes standard on every Ford vehicle. Key safety features include: 

• Standard forward collision warning with automated emergency braking 
• Standard lane departure warning with lane keeping assist 
• Standard blindspot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert 

To find out more about Co-Pilot 360, head over to Ford’s website linked here. 

Warranty and Maintenance Coverage

Ford’s warranty and maintenance coverage is fairly basic when compared to other companies like Hyundai or Kia for example, both of which offer longer powertrain coverage (as one would know if you read our previous posts about the two linked to the respective names!). 

• Limited warranty covers 3 years or 36,000 miles 
• Powertrain warranty covers five years or 60,000 miles 
• No complimentary scheduled maintenance 

Final Thoughts

This car has seen a lot of revisions over the years as mentioned previously, but one thing about Ford is not only do they stand behind their cars, the quality and performance of a Ford vehicle is hard to find somewhere else. Ford has been in the business of cars since 1903 – that’s 121 years this year! Clearly they know a thing or two about what they are doing. So if you missed your opportunity to get one of these not to worry, Ford is already in the process of making another great car – not for you to forget about this one, but another car to help them build their ever growing reputation on the market.